Doing the administration here is not easy, keeping things friendly and focussed on stories, storytelling, reading and commenting on stories. Maybe I should do away with the blogs.
Twice today I have had to remove comments for being unfriendly, both times because some reported news event and someone's fairly innocuous comment sparked replies that got political and maybe a bit unfriendly. Whenever this happens, it has nothing to do with my own politics, sometimes I have to remove posts that I agree with because not doing so eventually leads to flames, in my experience.
Sometimes I even have to remove perfectly innocent posts or comments because they repeatedly bring out the bad side of someone in replying to them, usually in agreeing to vehemently with a sentiment that might only have been hinted at.
I try not to get emotional about doing this. It's like cleaning hot fudge sauce off the chairs in the ice cream parlor, it's just maintenance of the site. But when someone takes offense at their post or reply being taken down when they, in truth, had done nothing wrong -- well, I feel awkward and sometimes a bit hurt.
This isn't always easy to do, but I keep plugging away at it. Do try to be patient and forgiving with me and assume that I have the best intentions for the site when I do something that you might think was personally motivated.
Hugs to all,
Erin
Comments
You ARE loved!
Dear Erin,
I'm human and I KNOW I have screwed up here on a few occasions. Being in charge means you have the toughest job, the "buck" stops with you. I may not always agree with you but I will try to support your decisions as strongly as I can. Why? Because I could NEVER in a million years do your job.
I try very hard to always respect your decisions.
Blessings upon you and yours this Yule. (Or Christmas or Hannukkah or whatever.)
with love,
Hope
with love,
HER
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
Fully understand
I have been a moderator for other sites before. These sites were our Monarchy (for Asheron's Call) or Kin (for Lord of the Rings Online) sites. I am fairly sure that I have had some of my comments here deleted for whatever reason. I fully understand the reasoning for doing so. I have also participated in forums set up in support of the games I have previously mentioned. Too many people keep forgetting that even here in the U.S. that freedom of speech only applies to the real world and not in a privately owned site for discussion. Too many idiots feel that their Constitutional right to free speech applies even when they have already agreed to a site's terms of service. They forget that they are not in their own home but are guests in someone else's home and that if they misbehave to the rules of the host that host can punish them in various ways.
True
All that said and agreed to, my point above was that even the innocent can get their comments removed because all unwittingly they may have been the seed or a linked in bystander for some conversation that went off the rails. If it's a blog, I can mark it comments closed. If it's a comment itself, I can only unpub or delete it.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Hmm
As a former U.S. Army Drill Sgt I know all of my comments have been innocent... Afterall, there are really only two rules. Rule number one is a Drill Sgt is NEVER wrong and rule number two is if a Drill Sgt is wrong, refer to rule number one...
Just for those who don't quite get it. That is concidered to be top of the line miitary humor there... Also, I am letting you know that even I don't find some of the stuff that us military types to be funny to be funny.
Erin, if someone visits your
Erin, if someone visits your home and complains about the way the furniture is arranged... well, what can you say?
The work you do for us is astonishing. Any decision you make about what is best for this site cannot be questioned by the likes of us. Do what you feel is right, and don't lose any sleep over it.
Hugs... Lora
The girl in me...
She's always there...
and she's presently humbled with gratitude.
For a writer...
...an interactive writing environment is incredible luxury. If one wrote paper books, in the olden days before "social media," comments were something one received in the mail, usually only after one had sold many (tens of? hundreds of?) thousands of books and achieved cult status with fan clubs and book tours.
Part of what this site supplies is an instant communications channel, but that interactivity has points both good and bad. There's an old saying, ‘On the Internet, no one knows if you're a dog,’ but one can pretty much substitute any noun, and many do. With anonymity, and existential non-locality, comes temptations few would succumb to in the workplace, or the local.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Behind whatever you do
If you decide to do away with blogs, I'd understand. Just for the sake of making your life easier, it would be worth it.
Hugs,
Kaleigh
Dear Erin BC is the best site on the planet!
The only reason it is the best is because of your dedication to what is right and proper.
I am privileged to use it thankyou.
Your most humble fan.
LoL
Rita
I'm a dyslexic agnostic insomniac.
'Someone who lies awake at night wondering if there's a dog.'
Age is an issue of mind over matter.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!
(Mark Twain)
LoL
Rita
I don't know what to say...
I honestly can't tell most of the time if what I say is going into trouble territory, so if something I post is removed, I just accept it and move on. I don't think I've questioned this any of the times it's happened. In fact, one time it happened, I was going to delete my comment myself but you beat me to it!
Earlier today, I did post some things that in retrospect I probably shouldn't have, they are now removed, and I apologize for having caused you difficulty. Unfortunately, I can't really promise not to repeat the mistake. I'm a slow learner when it comes to social niceties.
Abigail Drew.
Abigail Drew.
I understand
In the not so distant past I was a moderator on a rather tumultuous forum so to some extent I can understand what you have to deal with. I just hope you've never had to delete any of my comments.
Have a delightfully devious day,
Thank You
For all the time and effort you expend to keep this site running smoothly. I am sure that there are alot of times you feel it may not be appreciated, but rest assured it is greatly appreciated by all. Please keep up with the great work.
Another of the Silent Majority,
Debra
still and all - thank you
we did not see eye-to-eye many times. and i dare say there will be even many more times when we won't.
however, regardless, for me, that does not change the fact that what you have done, and continue to do here, is a good thing.
and, although the rose colored glasses i wore when i was just starting to post here is off now, like i said - that doesn't change the fact that what you do is a good thing, and i remain grateful, and will continue being grateful, that you have kept bcts running, and running as well as it does, not letting it degenerate into something bad.
here's something i posted way back, when some of the members said you were going through something personal, and everyone was worried whether you were ok, and whether bcts woud continue on. i still had my rose-colored glasses on when i wrote it, but a lot of its sentiment still remains true for me, as well as for many of the members, i'm sure.
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/15965/ode-mentor
Bobbie's stories -Â
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14775/roberta-j-cabot
Bobbie's blogs -
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/bobbie-c